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US Search Review

As an affordable and effective background check service, US Search provides a wealth of information in exchange for a handful of clues and a few dollars. US Search is easy to use but accesses more data sources than many of its competitors, making it one of the best in terms of value for money.

US Search grants its customers exhaustive results on the target of their background checks, especially for criminal histories, and at a very reasonable price.

Nicky Hoseck,author

Search Criminal & Court Records

Do a Reverse Phone Search

Deep Web Search Includes Social Media Data

Mobile App only Available for Android

Search New Neighbors, Relationships, & Friends

This flexible service allows you to choose a one-off report or invest in their OmniSearch feature, which gives you the freedom to conduct unlimited searches.

In addition to the usual criminal checks and property searches, US Search has one of the most comprehensive social network searches available.

As social media continues to increase its online dominance, this kind of search can reveal all kinds of information about a person, from their relationship status and favorite movies to their political bias and religious beliefs.

Even if you only have access to an individual’s phone number and nothing more, US Search can help you find out everything about them, down to their inside leg measurements… well, nearly. By first conducting a reverse phone lookup, you can gather enough information to then perform one of US Search’s more sophisticated searches to discover details about their employment and criminal history, etc.

Available Reports

US Search has one of the most comprehensive ranges of reports available so, no matter what motivated you to conduct a background search, US Search can produce the results you need. For example, if you’re being pestered by regular unwanted phone calls, a reverse phone lookup search can reveal the name of the person responsible, giving you a little more insight into the problem. Alternatively, if a doctor refers you to a specialist, giving you only his name and phone number, you could use a reverse phone lookup search to locate the specialist’s offices.

This type of search is just one arrow in US Search’s chock-a-block quiver but, fortunately, the simplistic website makes it easy to rummage through the various searches available and select the one most suited to your needs. Although minimalist, US Search’s site is user-friendly, giving helpful advice on which type of search to use, depending on what results you’re looking for.

For example, US Search recommends using a People search to find out where a person is currently living and with whom. This type of search will generate information about their current address and contact information, but won’t be as in-depth as a Background check, which will produce a report that includes detailed information about their criminal past, property ownership, marital status and much more.

You might opt for a Social Network search if you’re trying to get a feel for someone you’ve just met. Social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter can give you insight into a person’s interests, religious beliefs, political stance, and hobbies. On the other hand, an Email search is handy if you want to find out more contact details for a person you’ve been in touch with digitally but whose email address has subsequently changed, leaving you with no way to contact that individual.

If you need more thorough results regarding a person’s criminal past, including misdemeanors, convictions and sex offenses, then a Criminal Records search is the one to go for. With this result, you can customize the results by opting for a search of the records held by a specific state or choosing a nationwide search, depending on your requirements.

US Search has a background check service for you no matter what information you’re after, giving you the following searches to choose from:

Email Lookup

Reverse Phone Lookup

People Search

Social Network Search

Property Records

Criminal Check

Background Check

Out of all of these, the background check is the most comprehensive, producing the following results from a variety of public sources:

Basic information, including births, deaths, marriages, and divorces

Property records, such as real estate purchases, assets, and sales

Criminal records, including convictions and sex offender registration

Civil court records, like bankruptcies and civil judgments

Tax issues and debts

Business licenses

Current and past contact information and addresses

Search Capabilities

Customers can conduct a people search with many different input methods, including all the standard personal demographic descriptors like name and address. The ability to search by email address is an added bonus, though in practice, the results garnered by searches of this nature are limited.

The comprehensive background check feature serves up a plethora of information on the investigation’s subject, including an entire address history, relatives, and even where an individual studied and was employed. To get the full array of data, which might include details such as known aliases, criminal charges, marriages and divorces, civil judgements and other historical financial events, customers must sign up for the advanced background check offered by US Search.

In an age where communication is dominated by social networks, the ability to search by profile name could come in handy, but unfortunately it is only available in the most expensive subscription tier.

Data Sources

Although it is possible to conduct a simple background search for free, it is difficult for an independent individual to access the same range of data sources as a company like US Search. For example, Google can be used to perform a reverse phone lookup, even after removing their phonebook search operator nearly 10 years ago.

This type of search will probably produce something, although whether it will be beneficial is hard to say. To get a better idea of what we’re talking about, we did a Google search for a random phone number. The only relevant result we got was a link to a Twitter profile which, admittedly, told us quite a bit about the person that posted the number, but not much about the person to whom the number belonged.

Had we decided to do a reverse phone lookup using US Search instead, we probably would’ve ended up with at least the person’s first and last names, as well as, potentially, their physical and email addresses. Another rather encouraging aspect of this particular search is that, if you enter a bogus number, US Search will instantly recognize it as such and indicate it accordingly. Other less dependable sites might come up with a recommendation that more information is available if you spend more money and sign up for their premium service.

Not only is US Search a reliable service, producing consistently accurate results, but it also utilizes a robust collection of public record resources, gathering its information from the following sources:

Court records

Criminal charge history

Phone listings

Social media profiles and posts

Government records

Property ownership and real estate sources

Professional licensing organizations

Civil Judgments

The depth of a background check company’s data sources is instrumental in the level of detail present in the final report, and US Search does an impressive job of selecting the most important pieces of information and compiling them in a manner that is easy to process. US Search is particularly impressive when it comes to selecting the correct sources required to produce accurate results as quickly as possible.

Obviously, the data sources utilized depend on which report tier you’ve opted for. So, if you choose a cheaper option, then the results will inevitably be more limited. While this is to be expected, one negative about US Search is that they don’t reveal the sources used to gather basic information, such as a person’s address or phone number.

On a more positive note, however, US Search do include some data that we rarely see in public background checks, including gathering information from:

Address directories

Phone number directories

Social Security Number verification

Cross-referenced data to verify relatives and neighbors

This additional information is particularly useful for those with limited search options. For example, if you only have a phone number for an individual and you opt for a basic people search, the results should enable you to do a more in-depth search, which utilizes a wider range of US Search’s data sources.

Limitations

The three-tiered pricing model offers a single search on anyone, with varying levels of depth. The People Search package offers 2 basic searches for $1.45 and access to the OmniSearch tool. This is suitable for those who just need to know the age, address history, phone numbers and relatives of the person they are seeking.

The 1-State Criminal Check is more thorough, offering criminal charge and court records for 2 individuals for a one-time price of $9.85. The most comprehensive package is the official Background Report, which adds neighbor information, social media searches, property ownership data, marriage and divorce records, civil judgements and financial information for $29.95. It should be noted that this is only a single search, not two. For all packages, search results are available for an entire year.

Pricing

One of the best things about US Search is that it gives you the option of performing just one search. This is a rarity among online background search services, many of which require a minimum of a one-month subscription. Intelius, for example, currently have a special offer running which means you could get unlimited reports for just $9.95 for your first month of membership. Thereafter, however, the subscription fee gets bumped up to $19.95 per month.

By offering a very competitive rate for a single search, US Search is cornering the market in terms of people who want to do a one-off search on a specific individual. While companies like backgroundchecks.com do have single search payment plans available, these tend to be considerably more expensive than US Search’s highly competitive $2.45 per report. Backgroundchecks.com, for example, charges $29.95 for a single search, while Instant Checkmate charges $22.86 for a month’s subscription. By comparison, US Search is extremely affordable, offering you a single search for just $2.45, and throwing in a second search for free.

Don’t get me wrong, US Search isn’t the only background check service giving reports away and Instant Checkmate has a 5-day trial on offer for just $1! Nevertheless, you would have to commit to a subscription and hand over your credit card details to get this offer whereas, with US Search, you can simply do a one-off search with no future obligations at all.

If a People Search isn’t going to conjure up enough information to suit your needs, US Search still has you covered, with a one-off single state criminal report costing just $14.95 or a full background report for $39.95. It is possible to get a discount off all these prices if you choose to sign up for their OmniSearch function. OmniSearch allows you to perform unlimited people searches and phone lookups for either $19.95 per month for one month or $16.63 per month for a quarter.

Not only is US Search affordable, but its pricing is logical and simple, with fewer added extras carrying hidden fees than many of their competitors.

Support

If you find yourself struggling with some element of US Search’s service, your first port of call is their help page, where there are various useful FAQs neatly organized according to subject. These cover the most common topics relating to what you can expect from a report, how you can pay your subscription, and everything you need to know before conducting a search.

Although US Search’s FAQ section could be a little more comprehensive, it does give the vital statistics you need to conduct a background check efficiently. If this isn’t enough, you can click on the “Submit a Request” link in the top right-hand corner of the screen and fill in the online form. This ticket system is a bit outdated but works well enough and you should receive a response within half an hour or so.

When we reviewed US Search two years ago, we were impressed at their telephonic customer support service but, unfortunately, that has fallen by the wayside and, despite our best efforts, we couldn’t locate a phone number for US Search anywhere. Another piece of information that was once widely available and has now, seemingly vanished, was US Search’s office hours. While this may seem irrelevant, it does affect the response time, especially for those in a different time zone.

These are two areas where US Search could improve their customer service and, if they really wanted to take it to the next level, we’d really appreciate a 24/7 live chat option.

Conclusion

US Search is a reputable company that you can trust with your personal information, and that of the individuals your searching for. By utilizing a wide range of public records and other data sources, US Search produces in-depth reports that include some specifics not available from other similar services.

US Search has made an effort to make the service accessible to all by making one-off reports both affordable and easy to execute. This combination of affordability and ease of use make US Search an excellent option should you need to dig up the dirt on someone.

The wide range of search capabilities on offer from US Search means you can unearth details of someone’s past marriages, homes they’ve owned and crimes they committed using just a first and last name and state of residence.

US Search is a reliable choice for comprehensive background checks and criminal past reports alike but really comes into its own with its far-reaching social network search. If you’re looking for a new roommate and want to find out whether or not you’ll be compatible, a social network search can give you pretty much all the information you need to make that decision.

How your personal information is handled is crucial to a background check company’s reputation and US Search has a respectable privacy policy, although they will share your information with their affiliates.

Overall, if you opt for US Search, you’re in safe hands and will receive a detailed report that’s easy to read within a matter of minutes. Fast and affordable, US Search can give you peace of mind, whether it’s a possible online love interest, a new soccer coach for your daughter, or a new neighbor that you’re uncertain about. Let’s face it, at just $2.45 for a single People search, you don’t have much to lose.

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